Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2 official for UFC 223

Rose Namajunas’ first defense of her strawweight title will be against a familiar foe.

Namajunas has been slated to rematch the woman she captured the belt from, former UFC champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, on April 7 in the co-main event of UFC 223. The UFC made the previously reported booking official at Friday’s UFC 223 press conference.

Namajunas (7-3) upset Jedrzejczyk in stunning fashion in November at UFC 217, knocking out the record-breaking Polish champion via first-round stoppage. Altogether, the 25-year-old “Thug Rose” has won five of her past six Octagon appearances, defeating the likes of Tecia Torres, Michelle Waterson, Angela Hill, and Paige VanZant on her road to the title.

Jedrzejczyk (14-1), meanwhile, suffered the first defeat of her decorated career in her loss to Namajunas. The 30-year-old ex-champion was one win away from tying Ronda Rousey’s all-time women’s record for consecutive UFC title defenses heading into UFC 217. Her title run started with a vicious knockout of Carla Esparza then stretched across five dominant victories over Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Jessica Andrade.

UFC 223 takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event is headlined by a lightweight showdown between interim champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov.